Joel 2: 12-18
2 Corinthians5: 20-6:2
Matthew 6: 1-6, 16-18
“Even now, says the Lord, return to me with your whole
heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning; rend your hearts, not your
garments, and return to the Lord, your God.”
(Joel 2: 2-13)
In the frozen, snowbound Commonwealth of Massachusetts,
the celebration of Ash Wednesday goes on.
I have been assisting at two Masses, and one service, distributing the
ashes; marking each person’s forehead with the sign of the cross (or at least,
I am trying to!). Each time, I tell the
person: “Repent, and believe in the Gospel.”
I am encouraging them to hear, and accept, the Good News, and to change
their lives. Ashes on the forehead are an ancient symbol of
repentance, from the time of ancient Israel, and further back in
time. But it is only a symbol, it has no
power, it has no meaning, if the recipient does not commit himself or herself
to living the teachings of Jesus Christ.
Now this requires change; a change in the way we live our
lives. It is a call to enter into a closer,
more loving, and a deeper relationship with our God. It is a call to let go of our selfishness, our
self-centeredness, and reach out the Father; and to reach out to each other,
friend and stranger alike. It is a call
to let go of the bad self image we can have of ourselves; and realize that God
love us for who and what we are, no matter how bad. And we are called to reach out to the other
wounded persons we meet, and share this Good News, whether by word, and by
action.
Lent then, is the season wherein we can enter into a more
disciplined way of life, with the aim of growing closer to God. We are encouraged to make even more time for
prayer, where we open our hearts, to let God in, so that we can experience that
Love that surpasses all other types of love.
And as our experience of that Love grows and grows, we are impelled to
make more and more room in ourselves for God’s Presence. We need to discover what is our internal
clutter, that personal junk, which is getting in our way of loving God. This is where the discipline of fasting comes
in, where we can discover what we really need to live, and what we can do
without. Where we can discover how it
feels to be empty, and ready for Christ to come, and knock at the door of our
hearts. Finally, receiving such a great
gift from the Father, we feel the need to share that gift of love with others,
others who maybe alone, feel unloved, who believe they are alone in a cruel
dark world. By practicing almsgiving, we
learn to reach beyond ourselves, and touch those around us, whether they are
family, friends or strangers. And we
learned that we are not just called to share from our “surplus,” but to share
ourselves totally with others.
The season of Lent has been,
is, and always will be an opportunity to deepen our commitment to the Gospel of
Jesus Christ. An opportunity and it will
be a challenge for all of us. The
challenge to grow in our faith and to no matter often we might fail, we pick
ourselves up and begin again. We will
not be alone on this Lenten journey, Jesus will be us, inspiring us by His
Word, and He strengthens us with His Body and Blood. And on Easter morn, He will be there to
welcome us, into a much more wonderful life.
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